DERIVATION OF THE FLORA AND FAUNA 255 



The Myxophyta, i8 species, are more or. less cosmopolitan [loi). 



I have tried above to indicate where the native plants have their nearest sta- 

 tions outside the islands or, if endemic, where their closest relatives occur. Sta- 

 tistics like this serve to assign to a local flora its position within a certain floristic 

 region and, when dealing with an oceanic island, to trace the sources from where 

 its living world is likely to have been derived. The position generally assigned 

 to Juan Fernandez is that of an outpost from South America. In Engler's Syl- 

 labus the islands form the "Gebiet von Juan Fernandez und Masafuera" under 

 "Zentral- und siidamerikanisches Florenreich"; it is characterized thus: "Gattungen 

 vorzugsweise verwandt mit denen der chilenischen tjbergangsprovinz", i.e. Cen- 

 tral Chile and the Valdivian forest region, Engler's transitional belt between the 

 Andean and Magellanian provinces. Good [log) distinguished a "Region of Juan 

 Fernandez" under his "Neotropical Kingdom", giving it the same rank as the 

 "Amazone Region", the "Andean Region", etc. We have seen that there is an 

 unmistakable floristic agreement between Juan Fernandez and South Chile, but 

 also that it is far from complete, and both Engler and GoOD were well aware 

 of the presence of elements that had little to do with the flora of the mainland. 

 They were barely recognized by JoilOW (see above p. 215) who, with his faith 

 in unlimited transoceanic dispersal, paid little attention to them; they were too 

 few to disturb the Chilean picture. Not until the flora had become better known 

 did its strange features stand out in a clearer light. It is surprising that GuiLLAU- 

 MIN who knew and quoted the synopsis published in vol, II of this work (2.?^) 

 failed to recognize them. In his paper on the floristic divisions of the Pacific he 

 states that Juan Fernandez lies outside Oceania and he includes it in his discus- 

 sion only for the sake of comparison. The flora is characterized as follows [118. 

 931): "Sur 142 Phanerogames indigenes, la moitie sont endemiques mais appa- 

 rentees aux especes chiliennes; les autres sont cosmopolites ou Sudamericaines, 

 surtout chiliennes." It is not easy to understand how he arrived at this conclusion. 

 On the other hand, some authors were led astray by the difference between the 

 islands and the continent. Ermei., who got his impression from a short visit to 

 Masatierra, wrote (^7.48): 



. . . muss die Zusammengehorigkeit dieser Insel zum amerikanischen Festlande, zu 

 welcher Ansicht deren geringe geographische Entfernung von selbst hinleiten konnte, aufs 

 nachdriicklichste in Abrede gestellt werden, weil die beiderseitige Flora and Fauna zu 

 grosse Verschiedenheiten aufweist, wo wir an geeigneter Stella die notigen Beweise bei- 

 bringen werden. Die Gestaltung der Flora ordnet die Inselgruppe vielmehr dem aiistralischen 

 Weltteile zu, von dem der grosste Teil heruntergegangen ist. 



It is hardly necessary to mention that his proofs were based on his ignorance 

 of the composition of the island flora and very likely also of the floras of Australia 

 and Chile. 



